FRUSTRATION. I typed up an awesome blog post about all the things we’ve loved about living in Park City and it has completely disappeared from WordPress. Such is life when living in limbo! Sure, I’ve spent 20+ hours a week chauffeuring kids around but my gosh, how blessed are we to live in such an amazing place!

So, I’ll make a feeble tempt to recreate all the things we’ve loved about living in Park City.

1) 45 days of sunrises. The kids and I leave the townhome every morning at 7 a.m. to drive to the Heber Valley and every day is like unwrapping a gift. The morning we were greeted with a rainbow-sunrise directly behind our condo was something I’ll never forget but we’ve seen it all: fog, rain, cotton-candy clouds and the evolution of summer to fall. The kids and I have fallen in love with this area through its sunrises.

2) So many amazing adventures. I’ve long loved Park City in winter and summer but fall is somethin’ else. Details forthcoming.

3) My favorite drive is Old Ranch Road past $million$ mansions, expansive farmlands and a gorgeous mountain backdrop.

4) Crack bread. ‘Nuff said.

5) New friendships with the Mosses, Severesons, Lexi and Sheri while celebrating the old by hosting Kristen, the Taylors, Waddells, Porters and my in-laws.

6) The best of both worlds. Park City has grown from the cowtown of yesteryear to a place that has still maintained its small-town feel with incredible recreation while also boasting great amenities.

7) Farmer’s markets on Wednesdays just down the street and my pluot addiction with Smith’s Orchards.

8) Riding the funicular at the St. Regis and the “S’mores Sommelier.”

9) This luxury townhome. Truly, my friend Kristen has been a huge blessing to let us rent and there are so many things I’ll miss: *The  (count ‘em) FOUR fireplaces (one in each bedroom), hot tubbing under the stars, swimming in the expansive pool, watching movies on a rainy night with homemade chicken noodle soup, s’mores in the outdoor firepit, each bedroom’s huge closet, private balcony and bathroom, fun parties, snuggling up to the fireplace with Bode, the gourmet kitchen and a truly magical place to live in limbo.

We couldn’t be more grateful.

I’m writing this on Tuesday, Sept 27, 2016. We were supposed to move to our house on October 1st but it didn’t happen.  There is still so much to be done.   They just barely got started on the deck last night, the cabinets aren’t finished, we’re battling them on our sloped sidewalk and a myriad of other last-minute headaches. The good news: they painted the house the wrong color and corrected that without much backlash. I say that because we’ve received push-back on so so so many of their design center staffers’ communication screw-ups and we’ve had to eat the cost. Remind me to never build again.

We’ve been doing this Park City to Heber to Midway commute for about six weeks now and though the days are long, the weeks are short. I will truly miss our glorious townhome at the base of The Canyons and even more glorious Park City in the fall. Here are a few of our happenings.

Bode. Still slowly getting settled and it’s surprising to me how long it’s taking him to make meaningful connections because he finds BFFs everywhere he goes. Spoke in church a couple of weeks ago and I got a glimpse at the dynamic of the boys his age: pretty unruly. For a rule-abiding kid like Bode, this isn’t a great fit. He hangs with my friend Sarah’s three boys in the morning before school and has fun with them; hopefully more friends will follow soon after our move. Academically, he’s doing great. He was selected as one of two students from his class to attend the “Math Bus,” which is essentially an advanced math outing every month at the high school. He proudly says that the kids check their math answers against his for their corrections, a great compliment, indeed.  I received the following email from his Assistant Principal today: “I just wanted to let you know that Bode’s name was drawn out in our Mustang Buck drawing this morning.  I appreciate the great things he does each day to earn those Mustang Bucks.  I am so glad to have students like Bode at TIS.  He stands out as an example to other students.” Straight-A report card at mid-term.

Hadley. Still settling in surprisingly well (maybe I should have prayed harder for the rest of us and not just her? She attended her science club field trip to UVU on Saturday, has been hanging out with her new friend Zoie and is somehow juggling her busy middle school schedule. Zoie is my new hero when, being bullied by a boy at school who called her a weakling (among other things), she countered: “Can YOU lift more than your weight and mountain bike for miles?” Hadley has taken a new interest in her appearance, watching a lot of hair and make-up tutorials on YouTube. This is fine and dandy except her room and bathroom constantly look like a bomb exploded. Our new house isn’t move-in ready so she’ll be cramped for a while. We have three small bedrooms on the main level so she will be temporarily living in what will become my den while we hire someone to finish two rooms in the basement ASAP. We’ll then boot her to the basement and Jamie’s office will be next to her.

Jamie. Rock star. Despite having a multi-week rheumatism attack, barely sleeping and a lot of back pain, he’s been a warrior through this whole process. He’s been on the front lines of battles with our builder to get everything right and handles all the documentation with the exception of setting up all our utilities, which he put me in charge of. Translation: we’ll probably end up without power, water and sanitation. Surprised me with a lovely romantic lunch he grilled of steaks, scallop and shrimp with roses. This guy is a keeper.

Me. After suffering a “what am I supposed to do with my career” panic attack last week, I’m feeling temporarily peaceful knowing now is not the time to worry about jobs and that we just need to get settled. Missing Colorado daily (especially all the amazing event invites I’m getting) but am truly happy most of the time to live in Park City. I’m a pretty simplistic person; put me in a beautiful place with lots of trails to explore and I’m good.

Here’s for hoping all goes well with this crazy move of ours!

ser·en·dip·i·ty
ˌserənˈdipədē/
noun
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
“a fortunate stroke of serendipity”

Have you ever had an evening of happy little coincidences? Welcome to our first Girl’s Night Out since moving to Utah!

Let me back up a bit. I was in a bit of a funk. Fall is usually my favorite time of the year and that very week was usually our big pumpkin party and weigh-off when we were surrounded by fun and friends. I was missing our wonderful life in Colorado.

The boys had a father-son campout with our new ward so I determined I was going to invite some of the ladies and Hadley’s new friends over to our Park City townhome for swimming and dinner. The problem: I only got around to inviting Sarah, who has been my lifesaver with watching Bode in the mornings before school. So we decided rather than staying in, we would go out! The week prior, my Kristen (the wonderful gal from whom we’re renting the townhome) took me on a tour of Park City and included in that tour was Deer Valley. I determined that was where we would go.

Deer Valley is the Aspen of Utah, tucked amongst forested slopes with luxe accommodations. Hadley, Sarah and I had dinner lakeside at the Deer Valley Grocery~Café, a casual yet delicious eatery (the turkey panini with roasted rhubarb chutney, Cabot white cheddar, tarragon aioli, fresh arugula, housemade wild rice harvest bread was delicious).

From there, we rode up the free funicular (mountain rail-car) to four-star St. Regis Hotel, nestled above Snow Park in Deer Valley, and hit the trails. Lo, did we hit the trails.

As we marveled at the gorgeous fall colors, Sarah (an ace photographer) gave Hadley some tips as gawked northward towards Park City and Deer Valley and eastward to the Jordanelle Valley.

We continued our explorations back to the hotel and saw a glowing firepit in the distance. We headed toward the light and settled by the fire and acknowledged a young woman selling s’mores but we were still full from dinner. When some hotel guests arrived (with whom Sarah had common friends in Chicago), we gave into the temptation and that is when our lives changed forever. The staffer, Michelle, was a s’mores sommelier who taught us the art form of stuffed chocolate s’mores. Dripping peanut butter cup smores. And s’mores cakepops.

All this while our boys were at the father-son campout eating half-cooked hot dogs.

Nothing like girl’s night out for the win!

It’s one of the most wonderful times of the year: The Lakehouse in Vernon, B.C. For one glorious week, we unplug, boat, play games, watch movies on the beach, eat oodles of fruit pies from Davison Orchards and just relax. It wouldn’t be possible without my brother Pat and his wife Jane who tirelessly cart us around on their boat without complaint and do 99% of the planning leading up to the trip.

This year, the theme was wakesurfing. Hadley was moderately obsessed with beating her dear old mom in the water, which doesn’t take much. She rocked it!

It was also fun to see Bode take to wakesurfing as well (with Jane’s help positioning his board in the water).

I showed some signs of improvement and even jumped in for a run fully-clothed when I had an unexpected chance to go. Getting up has always been my biggest struggle and was able to do it the first try every day until the final one when the water was choppy. I should have quit while I was ahead!

The kids spent hours upon hours playing off the dock.

In fact, I barely saw Hadley the entire week. Bode and I bunked with my parents while she slept in another unit with Cousin Emily. When Hadley wasn’t on the boat, I’d see her swimming with cousins or by herself and relaxing in the hammocks. As much as she enjoys people, she truly loves just being by herself as well.

She introduced a game to us called “Never Have I Ever” where everyone takes a turn saying something they have never done. I.e. “Never have I ever worn a dress.” Anyone who has done that thing has to take a piece of candy but if you swallow it, you lose. The winner is the last person standing.

My mouth was literally bursting with gummy bear juice and I was one of the first to spit out my candy. Some call me a loser; I say that was for the win. No one was funnier than Ashton.

Just thinking about it makes my teeth ache!

I rarely took my phone on the boat because of my little incident a few months ago during my adventure race with Bode where I landed in the dunk and ruined it. The threat of Jamie kept it far, far away from the water.

We had our annual family dive-off. Usually we go over to the West Side but we’re getting too big (fat?) to all fit on the boat so we did it off the dock. As usual, Pat stayed under the longest. His 44-year-long winning streak is really getting old.

Pat’s friend Todd always invites us over for movie night on his beach and it’s one of our favorite traditions. This year, we watched the Addams Family and conditions could not have been more pristine. As Bode gazed at the sky, he marveled “Mom, will we be able to see the stars like this when we move to Midway?” You’d better believe it.

Ashton cut our hair while Emily gave Hadley a makeover. Good thing Jamie wasn’t there because he would have had nightmares about her future suitors.

Twelve going on 22.

In the evenings, we wound down by playing lots of card games.

And it was great just to chill out together.

“YAWP!”

The week wasn’t perfect by any means. Mom was scary-sick after the long drive. There were some good, old-fashioned meltdowns but overall, I couldn’t be more blessed than to call these people Family.

Here’s to the sun setting on another great year at the lake.

My original plan: Put the house on the market in early Spring. Sell. Spend most of the summer in Utah and Canada.

What happened: Didn’t move until the 11th hour before school started. Endured a lot of stress but also extra time with wonderful Colorado friends.

And Canada. What would I do without my annual trip home for the summer? We usually spend most of July in Calgary and at the Lakehouse in B.C. Due to our unknown schedule, my family accommodated bumping the Lakehouse back a week so the kids and I could come. Jamie, unfortunately, stayed in Denver to hold down the fort. You know, the one that wasn’t selling.

A major factor in making this trip happen is my mom’s MS has grown from bad to worse and I know this would likely be the last time she could travel. Not only has her physical condition deteriorated but mentally as well and it’s so difficult to see my beautiful mother barely coherent. That said, I’m so grateful for her lucid moments and the time we got to spend with the family.

Every year, my dad has a family reunion for his side of the family and every year, I’ve missed it due to the timing. So, this time around I was delighted to become reacquainted with them. Pat and Jane had everyone over for a glorious dinner where they cooked pizzas in their new pizza oven.

I have only one cousin on my dad’s side of the family (and just one on my mom’s) so it was awesomely fun to meet my cousin Richard for the first time. Shamefully, I didn’t get a picture of him but he just got his PhD and was in town competing in the Ironman. So, pretty much he takes after me in every way.

Calgary is the best city in the world and despite rain when we first arrived, we had a blast at the Calgary Stampede with my bestie Stacey. As a favor to her, I didn’t take any pictures (you’re welcome, dearie) but I present unto you Bode. With Beaver Balls. You can’t make this (Canadian) stuff up.

Beaver Balls. Yes, that’s a thing.

Bode braved his first upside-down ride, the Brain Drain.

Despite three years of coaxing them, Hadley still refuses to do it and that’s the good thing about her. No amount of bribery or pressure will make her do something she doesn’t want to do. That’s also the bad thing about her.

Usually my dad and I go on daily bike rides through Fish Creek Provincial Park but this year, I didn’t bring my bike, he didn’t have time to borrow my brother Pat’s and so we just went on a lot of individual bike rides including my annual 30 miler.

Bow River

I’ve long told the kids life is too short to live somewhere ugly. Growing up in Calgary set the bar incredibly high.

Usually we celebrate Bode’s birthday at the Lakehouse but since we bumped it back a week, Jane threw a wonderful 10th birthday soiree at her house with pizza and a movie in their awesome home theater.

We went on lots of walks with the dogs to the playground and Grandma came along for one of our adventures.

Not even 24 hours after my brother Jade and his boys arrived, the cops came knocking on our door. A neighbor busted the kids for golf carting in the gully.

The infamous gully

KILLJOYS.

Jade and I introduced our little American offspring to the wonders of 5-pin bowling, followed by My Favorite Ice Cream Shoppe.

And, of course, the hallowed MUD PITS. My niece Emily came along for the first time and was a wonderful sport despite slipping down the mountainside and landing in a tree. Never a dull moment, I tell ya!

Hadley and Jade: Tough mudders

We cleaned off in Fish Creek and played for a while before walking to Annie’s for ice cream.

All in all, we had a fabulous week with my dad’s siblings and the rest of our family. I stayed behind an extra day with my dad in Calgary while he wrapped the family reunion and to help him with the 9-hour drive to Vernon. Bode drove over with Jade while Hadley rode with the girls. The boys won for this stopover at Moraine Lake in Banff National Park.

Canada wins for lack of ugliness but the boys lose for those expressions.

First World Problems. That’s what I keep reminding myself when I’m tempted to whine and complain about this wild ride my family has been on living in limbo while our house is being finished. It doesn’t help that I haven’t been feeling well with allergies and teeth pain. I’m hoping for a reprieve on many, many levels.

The frustrating

The commute. So much driving. I’m in the car a minimum of four hours per day. Jamie had a business trip in AZ for five days and I miraculously survived (though I’ve averaged one meltdown per week; usually a nap in the back of the car assuages nervous breakdowns).

I miss Colorado. I spent more than a decade building friendships and an awesome online and offline community. I’ve been blessed with an amazing team of writers who are handling all the on-the-ground coverage while I manage everything else (advertising, editorial calendar, etc.). But here’s the problem: I love all those trips, VIP pre-screenings, restaurant openings, etc. It’s tough not to feel depressed after repeatedly turning down invites; that’s why I started blogging in the first place.

Lack of direction. I have no doubts we were supposed to move to Utah but until we can get settled in our house and I have some time, my hands are tied with pursuing new career paths. I put out some feelers for freelance magazine writing with my former editors and already heard back, only to realize I have zero time to travel and pursue these opportunities. Patience, little grasshopper. I’d really like to get back into Utah’s travel and tourism industry but have no idea what that will look like.

The “coming along”

Friendships are slowly forming.

Hadley is probably adjusting better than any of us and has joined the Science Club, has a group of friends at school and has bonded with the girls in our ward.

Bode was really attached to our life in Colorado and despite usually being able to make friends immediately, he has been slower to form meaningful connections. He is extremely frustrated by this but I have no worries once we’re finally in our house, he’ll make a lot of friends in our neighborhood.

Jamie. Lives in the basement working all day. So, not much has changed from his days in Colorado.

Me.  I’ve met some really great ladies and we’ve been on some adventures together. Have passed out in the backseat of the car more times than I’d care to admit. #Survivalmode

The awesome

As bi-polar as I feel about being here (“I love this place!” “What the crap” are we doing here?) the good far outweigh the bad.

I’m driving back and forth to the Heber Valley several times a day but we’ve been privileged to watch fall unfold in all its crimson magnificence. Truly, the 30-minute drive from Park City to Heber is gorgeous x 100. The kids and I listen to Audible or the scriptures, talk about nothing or everything and marvel at the mountain majesty that surrounds us.

Our luxury 3-story townhome. On Wednesdays, I stroll down to the farmer’s market at Canyons Village to eat peach cobbler ice cream, pluots, peaches and corn on the cob.

New adventures. Though I’m itching to explore the Heber Valley, I can’t pass up the opportunity to tackle Park City while we’re living here. I have had a grand time hiking and biking in my spare time, often with new friends.

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We are supposed to be closing on our house next week but a lot of things need to happen before then. A deck. Cabinets. Carpet. Driveway. Fingers are crossed it will all go down according to schedule. This time in Park City has been a lot like new motherhood: the days are loooong but the weeks are short.

Here’s to starting a new adventure!